Challenge accepted

Today was the 13th Sabbath of the month. Until today, I had no idea that this was a special Sabbath, but apparently it's communion. After sabbath school with over 30 people in a giant, noisy circle, we headed up and found out about communion. Jeanine and I decided to try something new and sit up on the balcony, which we found to be really quiet and had a great view. The songs and prayer and all of the other rituals were the same, but when it came time for the sermon, it was short! He probably only talked for about 20 minutes and then we separated for the foot washing. Jeanine, Tami, and I all switched around and it was a really nice experience. We had a nice prayer afterwards and a big hug! Then we went back upstairs for the bread and grape juice, which was also a really nice experience. Ben introduced us to a man who he'd met during foot washing that had never been to an Adventist church before. Ben opened his Bible and showed the man why we did foot washing and why we ate and drank in church. The man was really nice and seemed really interested.
After church, there was a huge potluck. It was extra big because there were so many more people at church today than usual, but I'm not sure why. We had all sorts of good things like guava and tuna, rice noodles, lumpia, and egg patties. It was definitely the best potluck since we've been here! After we went back for a bit before prison ministries. I got to skype my family and it really lifted my mood. I was so happy to get to talk to them and see how they were doing. Then we headed down to the prison and got there just in time. We greeted the prisoners and sang some beautiful songs that they picked. Then Meskit talked about ants and being spiritually dead and I learned a lot. After it was over, we got to talk to the prisoners again before we headed back to our apartment.
We waited around for a while and then decided to go out to Rock Island Cafe for dinner with the boys. Getting there was an adventure. After they came here to get us, they couldn't get the van started again. They tried letting it coast down a hill, but it just wouldn't start. Then it started shooting off bright yellow flames right under my feet! There were sparks flying everywhere and little shots of fire randomly mixed in. After kicking the engine fore 10 more minutes, it finally started and got us there. We had a nice dinner, though Victor and Austin watched ESPN most of the time. Fortunately Chris was there to talk to, and it was a lot of fun! (Mrs. Tan, if you're reading this, Chris is sorry he doesn't give you more information. He wants you to know that he wishes you were here and he'll try to post more) After a delicious dinner, we got to relax in our apartment and have some good talks. It was a really nice day, only highlighted by the fact that my dad will be here in only 5 days! I am so excited, and everyone here knows it! During potluck I talked to Nelson about where he will stay, and found out that he's staying in the clinic behind the school. I just can't wait to show him Palau and do stuff with him. I want to go kayaking, scuba diving, and to the rock islands, and so much more. Sorry for telling you again, but I'm so excited!
Before I left California, my parents wrote about 20 Bible verses on index cards and hid them all around my stuff. Today during church, I took them out and copied them down into my Bible. They are such good verses that are really going to help me while I'm here. It's nice to know that the Bible has encouragement for when I am lonely or sad or discouraged. Oh, and a miracle happened today! Last week I asked all of my kids what SDA meant. I wanted to know who even knew what our church believed. A few kids knew, the daughter of one of the teachers, the daughter of the head elder, and the son of another elder. The rest just stared blankly and didn't answer. I asked them how many of them were SDA, and only 6 or so raised their hand. I found out that most were either Catholic or didn't go to church. I challenged them to come to our SDA church and told them that I'd love to see them. After I was done, when they went back to normal classwork, I stopped at Krystal's desk. I didn't plan to talk to her, but she was the closest person to me and I was impressed to talk to her. I asked her why she didn't come to church and told her that I missed her every Sabbath. She told me that she didn't have time and that her mom was always too tired to take her. I told her that I would love to see her if she ever could come by. Today, as I was walking out of the youth sabbath school, I passed the kids class. A waving Krystal stood behind the glass, smiling like crazy. It made me so happy to see her and she even stayed for church! If that's not God working, I don't know what is.